Blog Tour – Creating a Rough Road to a HEA

My name is Kelli Wilkins and I’m a romance writer who loves torturing my characters. Why? So I can get them back together for a happily-ever-after ending!

Let’s face it, romance readers know they are going to get a HEA before they pick up a book. The hero or heroine isn’t going to die – unless you’re reading a paranormal and someone turns into a vampire. J

People read romances for different reasons: for great storylines, to live vicariously through the characters they care about, and to know that whatever obstacles these lovers face, they’ll overcome them together.

I write stories based around characters who find each other, fall deeply in love, and live happily ever after – but not without going through some emotional ups and downs. Although my characters love each other, everything isn’t always roses and sunshine. As they work through their challenges, they have to learn a few lessons about themselves, trust, honesty, or whatever their personal internal struggles are.

For example, Michelle in Wilderness Bride has to overcome her prejudices, risk showing her vulnerable side, learn about her inner strength, and develop trust. In Dalton’s Temptation, Elara and Dalton learn important lessons about temptation and fidelity. Lord Adrik in The Dark Lordis moody and misunderstood, until an innocent girl teaches him how to love and trust again. These trials and emotional hardships are realistic challenges that people face every day. Once the characters have learned what they need to, they can live HEA.

But sometimes love can be a surprise. In a few of my stories, the characters aren’t looking for love – it’s the furthest thing from their minds – but there it is! Shauna in Dangerous Indenture never dreamed she’d fall for a handsome gentleman after having her heart broken – but she finds a true love in Ashton. Lauren in The Sexy Stranger found herself falling for her ex-con “captor.” Claudette from The Pauper Prince had Prince Charming stroll into her dress shop, and Brian found his true love on a deserted beach in Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover. Although these types of relationships are uncommon, the characters focus on commitment and “being there” for the other person for the long haul, no matter what.

Many of my characters find true love when they are willing to open their hearts and risk sharing their deepest emotions, darkest secrets, and intimate desires — and then discover that the other person loves them even more for it. (David and Jack from Four Days with Jack and Julian and Annabelle from A Midsummer Night’s Delights are excellent examples of this.)

One of the things I like about writing romances is that I can make life miserable for the main characters and keep readers wondering: How are they going to live happily-ever-after? How will they get past this? For me, the how is the fun part.

In my books, I make sure the characters get on each other’s nerves, and I add lots of conflict (external and internal) to pull them apart. The conflict can be anything that will destroy their happy world: maybe he won’t compromise; his parents don’t approve because she’s from a different ethnic or social background; the hero finds out the heroine has a secret; the heroine isn’t as innocent as she seems; the man he loves just cheated on him (or so he thinks); his beloved princess was kidnapped; or a blackmailer wants her dead.

In The Viking’s Witch, Odaria is nearly burned at the stake and is rescued by Rothgar, a brutish Norseman she can’t stand (at least at first!). Over the course of the book they fall in love, but at the same time they bicker, keep secrets from each other, people are trying to kill them, and it seems that Rothgar has betrayed Odaria to her sworn enemy. Yet, under all that conflict and heartache, their love is a constant, and they learn important lessons as they fight for their HEA.

My two latest historicals also put the main characters through some hefty trials. Michelle from Wilderness Bride is on the run and forced to impersonate a stranger’s wife. She has to let down her guard and trust Luther if she has any hope of surviving. But Luther has his own secrets, and members of his family don’t approve of his new “wife.” Add a rogue bear and a murderer to the mix, and our happy couple has their hands full!

In Dangerous Indenture, Shauna works at Stewart House, where a previous servant died under mysterious circumstances. Despite her best intentions, she falls for her master’s son, Ashton, and they begin a forbidden romance. After another servant goes missing, Shauna risks her life to find out who is responsible. Ashton and Shauna’s world is filled with danger, drama, and intrigue, and yet their love gives them the courage to keep going toward a HEA.

Whether you read historicals, fantasy, gay, paranormal, or contemporary romances (or a combination) you’re always guaranteed a great story, troubled characters you can’t help but root for, some steamy love scenes, and a happy-ever-after ending. Because in the end, love conquers all, and that’s how it should be.

Happy Reading!

Kelli A. Wilkins

Here are the descriptions and links to my two newest historical romances, Wilderness Bride and Dangerous Indenture.

Wilderness Bride

A woman running from her past…straight into the arms of a wild stranger

In a moment of desperation, Kathleen Stanton flees her pampered life in Kingston, New York and ends up stranded in a small town in the Michigan Territory. Out of money and lacking a means of escape, she impersonates a handsome stranger’s mail-order bride. Kathleen calls herself Michelle and begins living a lie with her “husband,” Luther, in an isolated mountain cabin. She tells herself the arrangement is temporary until she can move on.

Luther can’t believe his luck when his beautiful blonde bride arrives, but something doesn’t feel right about his new wife. She has terrifying nightmares involving a man named Roger and is reluctant to talk about where she came from. But Luther is harboring a secret about his background and fears Michelle will abandon him if she learns the truth about him—and his family.

Dangerous Indenture

Eager to escape her past in Ireland, Shauna Farrow signs on to become an indentured servant to Joshua Stewart, a wealthy man in Pennsylvania Colony.

But a life of servitude quickly turns to drudgery, and her hopes for starting over and creating a better life for herself are waning—until she meets her master’s roguish son, Ashton.

Shauna fights her growing attraction to Ashton, torn between propriety and acting on her emotions. But amidst their flirting, something dark stirs. Shauna soon discovers why no other servants will work for the strange Stewart family.

Stewart House has an unsavory reputation: a previous servant died there under mysterious circumstances. When another servant goes missing in the middle of the night, Shauna is convinced that a member of the family is responsible.

When Shauna’s investigation leads her too close to the truth, it’s up to Ashton to save her before time runs out.

Kelli publishes a blog: (http://kelliwilkinsauthor.blogspot.com) filled with excerpts, interviews, writing prompts, and whatever else pops into her head. She also writes a monthly newsletter, Kelli’s Quill, and posts on Facebook and Twitter. Kelli invites readers to visit her website, http://www.KelliWilkins.com to learn more about all of her writings.

Hmmm so I am the Hungry Reader. The one who reads. The one who is constantly reading or wanting to read constantly. This blog is all about the books I have read, the ones that I am reading and gems that I plan to read in the future or whenever it arrives.